This Newsletter Was Mailed On October 25, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,


First of all, I want to say thank you for your prayers and support while we served in Haiti. Our time there could not have happened without you praying for us and supporting us.

Many of you have been wondering what is going on in our lives now that we have left Haiti. Over the last several months, we have been searching for our next adventure with God. We felt God bringing us back to America and so we left Haiti April 1. We moved our stuff from Haiti to Kentucky and continued to wait on the Lord’s direction. Now, we have been led by the Lord into a new work. We have moved our things from Kentucky to Tennessee.

 

The children have transitioned into public school and are loving it. They have expressed their opinions about homeschool and they desire to stay in public school. They are adjusting well to our new area of ministry. They have also expressed their desire to return to Haiti to visit. Skyla already has a “return to Haiti fund.” God has truly blessed us with wonderful children. We could not be prouder of them.

Susan has accepted a nursing position at Jellico Community Hospital in Jellico, Tennessee. She is working three to four 12-hour shifts a week. She has also been accepted into the nurse practitioner program in Hyden, Kentucky. In addition, Susan will be volunteering at the free clinic in Oneida, Tennessee when she has Wednesdays off. Susan was given the opportunity to return to Haiti in July on a medical mission trip to the island of La Gonave. Thanks to those who made that possible.

Kevin has accepted a position as an evangelism catalyst for a ministry center located in Winfield, Tennessee. This position is with the local Baptist Association covering two counties. One county located in Tennessee, and the other county just across the border in Kentucky. Kevin has been approved with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) SBC under their Mission Service Corps volunteer program. Kevin will be working with the Director of Missions for the New River/ McCreary County Baptist Association.

We are currently renovating and turning an old school into a ministry center. The ministry center will reach out to the community, as well as provide services within the building. We will offer a food bank and clothing bank, hopefully starting in October. The public library will be using an old class room and the Salvation Army will use the old teachers’ lounge for an office. We have a reading school for 2 to 4 year olds starting on the 17 of October. The undertaking has been great and each day we see God working and bringing us closer to having a positive impact for Him in our community.

God is keeping us as faith-based missionaries. Not something I was planning on, but God does know best. We again ask that you commit to praying for us. Prayer is the most important aspect of our spiritual walk. As we pray for each other in the work that the Lord has for us, we accomplish so much more for Him. As for financial support, we are currently needing $2,600 dollars a month to help meet the family’s needs and ministry needs. We ask that you pray how God would lead you in partnering with us in reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please Pray With Us

So, it has been a while. As most of you know, we are in Pineville, Kentucky right now. We have been here for three weeks. We have been busy with getting acclimated back to the U.S.

Kevin has his resume out with two churches. We are praying and seeking the Lord for the direction He wants us to go. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for our family in ministry. Please pray with us.

Susan has applied to Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. She has been to the school and toured the facility as well as met with the staff. We continue to pray for direction in this. She has also applied for a job at Jellico Community Hospital. We don't know if this is where the Lord would have her minister, so we pray. Susan has an appointment there on Friday morning. Please pray with us.

The children, Skyla, Kali, Jessi, and Josiah, have been busy with school. They should all be done with this school year at the end of May. We have been asked many times what we will be doing next school year with the children. We don't know at this point. We don't even know where we will be living. So, please pray with us.

Kevin and Josiah went to Lexington, Kentucky today to visit Kevin's sister and then fly to Denver, Colorado on Wednesday. Susan, the girls, and their dog, will be driving out to Wyoming on Saturday and Sunday. We will be visiting family, churches, and friends while we are in the Wyoming/Colorado area. Please pray with us.

It is our desire to fully follow the will of God. The Word says, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Luke 11:9. And "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Luke 11:13. So, if we ask, seek, and knock, the Word says that He will give us the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26, it says that the Holy Spirit is our teacher. We are all in need of a teacher from the Most High. I thank God that He has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and teach us on this path He has set before us. I pray we are good students.


Please pray with us.


We will be doing our best to visit all who have poured into our lives as we prepared to go to Haiti, as we served in Haiti, and as we are returning from Haiti. We desire to do this over the summer months set before us. Please contact us if you have a better time you would like for us to try and visit your area. We hope to begin making some calls and setting the calendar up soon.

Leaving Miami

A new day is dawning. Yesterday, we received our household goods from our container we shipped here from Haiti. We backed up a Penske truck to the back of the container and moved all of our things to the moving truck in one hour. Everything seemed to be in good condition. We praise the Lord for that.

Today we are headed north. We will overnight in Jacksonville, Forida. Wednesday, we will enjoy the day at the beach with the children and on Thursday, we will head on to Kentucky.

As much as I am trying to enjoy this adventure, I am tired of living out of a suitcase. But, I wouldn't trade it for anything. If this is what the Lord has for us, then I am going to do my best to enjoy it. We have been blessed to stay with friends while in Miami and although they have continued to extend their home to us, I am sure they will be glad when the six of us are not sleeping in their living room.

Thanks Robert, Nancy, Courtney, and Cory!

Anyway, keep us in your prayers as we travel, pray, and discern the Lord's direction for our family.

Many blessings to each of you.

In Miami, Florida

So, we are now in Miami, Florida. Let me try to recap the last few weeks...

We decided about eight weeks ago to return to the United States (see last post if you haven't already.) We looked into shipping our household items back to the US. We made a few phone calls and sent a few emails. Then we called our broker in Port-au-Prince, Haiti to check on our paperwork. This was on March 18th at about 1:30 p.m. To our surprise, she said our container to pack our items in would be in TiTanyen on Saturday morning, March 19th. Now at this point, all we had packed were books. Granted there were 20 boxes of books, but none the less, that was all that was packed.

We began to pack. Mme Lesrome was at our house and she began to empty things in the kitchen and wash them. We packed till late that evening and then began again the next morning. Our container did not arrive till around 3 p.m. (or maybe it was a bit earlier), but we needed the extra time. Once it was situated, we began to pack the container.

Now, we had a friend visiting us from France. He, Romain, had been with us in Haiti for about a week. He is the packing king. We took boxes to him and he strategically placed each item. We got our whole household stuffed into a 20 foot container. Praise the Lord! Thanks Romain. The shipping company picked up the container Tuesday morning. One more small feat accomplished.

So, when would our stuff leave Haiti? We were thinking several weeks. Why? Well, we were thinking they would need to wait for enough stuff/containers, then they would ship them all. Nope. It was scheduled to leave the next Saturday or the following Tuesday. That put it leaving Haiti on March 26th or 28th. After that, three days of ocean travel until it arrives in Miami, FL. Wow, we're not waiting time here.

Thoughts that ran through our heads: Are we ready for the next step in ministry? Are we ready to leave Haiti? Are we ready for the newness of different ministry opportunities? Are we ready to leave the friends that we have come to love dearly and venture out to make new ones and see old ones? Sometimes the answers were yes, sometimes they we no, and still other times they were maybe. But, regardless of our emotions at the time, we knew we were/are still in the will of God. That peace that is upon us is definitely from the Lord. So we hang on to that.

With our belongings in route to Miami, we found out we need to be there to receive our stuff and work it through customs on the US side. So, we bought tickets. We flew to Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 1st. One husband, one wife, four children, one dog, eight checked pieces of luggage, and six carry on pieces of luggage - and we are off. Mr. David driving this motley crew to the airport. Everything went wonderfully. We couldn't have asked for a smoother transition.

The Global Outreach Haiti team was wonderful during this transition time. They encouraged us, prayed for us, prayed with us, and assisted whenever needed.We thank you for your support and friendships - you are all a blessing to us.

We are currently staying with friends in Miami. We should have our household items on Monday. It should all be loaded in a moving truck and ready for the next destination. We don't know the final destination on this side of Heaven, but we are headed to the Pineville, Kentucky area, for now.

We are planning to make a tour around the U.S. to thank everyone on our walk in ministering in Haiti. We would like to encourage all in their walk and encourage the support of Global missions. We will keep you posted as to the area we will be and what the Lord is doing in our lives. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Please keep praying for our family and for the ministry the Lord has for us to join Him in. We are excited.

Leaving Haiti

This is a letter that we just mailed out to all we have a correct address for. Please feel free to pass it along.

To all of our family and friends,

Haiti has been a wonderful experience for us. We have learned so much in the last 20 months. We have made some wonderful friends. We have learned what can be done and what can not be done in Haiti (or a least scratched the surface of that one). We have continued to work on learning the language Creole. We have enjoyed Haiti and the ministry in whom the Lord has had us partake while we were here.

There have also been tough times. We have learned that there are some to whom you can minister without greater expectations and some that will always expect more. We have made mistakes along the way, but we pray we have learned from those mistakes. We have experienced things that we never would have experienced in our lives, had we not come to Haiti. We have learned ways to minister, and we have watched God open some doors, as well as close other doors.

God has been and will continue to be faithful through it all. We have watched God provide in ways that we never thought possible. We have watched God use each of you to minister to us in our time of need. We have seen people come to the Lord. We have seen people grow in the Lord, and we have seen people wait on the Lord. We are excited about what the Lord is doing in Haiti and in our lives.

We have been praying and seeking the Lord for the direction He would have us go in ministry. We have and are watching to see where God is opening doors for ministry. This is what we have observed.

• God moved us to Haiti. He opened the door for us to work in Arcahaie and we have continued to work with the children's program and Thursday afternoon Bible Study. Both of these experiences have been good.

• God moved us to Haiti. We have been learning the ministries here with Global Outreach Haiti in TiTanyen. We have learned more than we could imagine or repay. It has been a tremendous blessing. From well-drilling/repair, clinic, construction, bookkeeping, managing teams and projects, general maintenance (like generator operations and water collection), receiving and distributing supplies, building relationships, and ministering with the local schools and churches; all of these ministries are a blessing here in Haiti and we have enjoyed being a part of them.

• God moved us to Haiti and now we believe He wants us to return to the States. We would like to further our education and ministries. We don't know if we will ever live full-time in Haiti again, but if it is His will, we would love to return often to minister on a short- term basis. We believe that Kevin is being led in the pastoral direction. Susan is feeling led to return to school to receive training in becoming a Nurse Practitioner in the area of Family Nursing and Midwifery. We believe that both of these moves would enhance the ministry the Lord has for our family here in Haiti and around the world.

The next step.

We were planning on returning to the States at the end of April 2011 for our annual trip back on furlough. We desire to stay that same course, but instead of returning to Haiti we would stay Stateside. We would like to ship our household goods back to the United States. We will wait on the Lord for direction on a place to pastor and Susan would apply and enroll in school for Fall 2011.

We need your help.

1. As always, we need your prayers. 
2. We need financial donations that would help us transition back to the States. This would include shipping costs, airline costs, transportation costs for the first month back, and other unforeseen expenses that arise while moving a family from one country to the next. 
3. We are asking that you continue to send in your monthly financial donations, at least through the end of June. This will prevent us from being stranded in Haiti. If you desire to continue after that-we are planning future trips back to Haiti as the Lord allows.

We love you and thank you for your support. Please stay in touch. We will continue our blog for a bit and we would like to continue to update each of you through quarterly or semi-annual newsletters from our family. If you desire to be removed from our mailing list, please contact us.

In Christ we serve, 

Kevin, Susan, Skyla, Kali, Jessica, and Josiah Bruns

Pics of Jensky

Jensky - our little, burned, malnourished baby. He is doing great and look at his little fat belly. I am praising the Lord for his healing. Pictured below: Jensky and his momma.

Thanks to Joshua Brumley for his great photography!

A Note From The Whittaker Family #2 - Missionaries to Haiti

Susana finished her race on 02/11/11 at 12:15 PM

February 11, 2011

Susana Raquel Whittaker is now in the presence of our great and glorious God.  She ran her race.  She ran well.  We held her hand and led her into the arms of Jesus.  Our hearts groan like never before.  But we rejoice in our God who loves us so much and has brought our little girl into heaven where she now sees Him face to face.  Soon, my beloved Susana, and very soon, we too are going to see the King.

Homecoming Celebration for Susana!!!

February 11, 2011

We will have a Homecoming Celebration for our sweet Susana on Monday Feb. 14th at 2:00 PM at Biltmore Baptist Church.  35 Clayton Rd.  Arden, NC.  Nearest regional airport is Asheville.  Nearest international airport is Charlotte, NC or Greenville-Spartanburg, SC.

This will be a wonderful time for us to celebrate her life, faith, and legacy that she will leave with so many of us.  We invite you all to come and share this time with us.  We will celebrate the goodness of our God that He has loved us so much that He purchased a place in heaven for us, and that is where our beautiful little girl is right now and will be forever.  Therefore, we will rejoice.

DO NOT WEAR BLACK!!!!  DO NOT BRING FLOWERS

We will have a time to mourn, for but a moment, because that is what it will be like compared to all the rejoicing we will do in eternity.  So, this truly will be a homecoming celebration…for our little girl has finished the race and is now enjoying her prize…Jesus.

Instead of flowers or gifts, we are asking for a donation to be made to our ministry so that we can continue sharing the love of Jesus with the orphans and poor of Haiti.  Susana loved being in Haiti and talked all the time about the day that we would be able to return.  Your giving will be an honor knowing that this is what Susana would want more than flowers or gifts.  The information for giving is on our website at www.howcantheyhear.org

Thank you all for the prayers and support.  By the grace of God, we will press on and continue reaching towards our prize and heavenly reward.  And now our longing becomes even greater knowing that we will also be reunited with our precious little girl.

Update on Jensky

Jensky is our burned baby we are taking care of at the clinic. I just wanted to update you on his condition....

Today, he screamed like I was killing him. Now, that is probably not the best wording to come up with, but it is true. His energy level is good. He is more vocal. He only has a few patches that still need healed on his face. He seems to be healing well. Jensky seems to be a fighter and that is probably the only thing (other than the Lord) that has kept him alive for 13 months. He has battled malnutrition and now a burn. Praise the Lord - he is doing well. Now, I say all of that, but he still has a long way to go. So keep praying. It could be a couple of months before he is totally healed.

Momma is doing better. She is more interactive with Jensky. She doesn't just sit in the corner and turn her head anymore. She has been taking turns with Papa in bring Jensky. This week, we changed his burn treatment. He is now coming on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Coming six days a week is taxing on the family, both physically and financially. Continue to lift them up to the Lord.

I will try to get new pictures on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

La Gonave Trip Pics

Boat ride to La Gonave.

This pic reminds me of when Jesus took a donkey ride.
This is Josiah and Papa Shamma.
Josiah's first donkey ride ever.

Josiah Posing

There he is again.

Smiling Faces and look - Dora is in Haiti.

Market

Market - everything looks so yummy.

Anse-a-Galets - the town where Shamma's family lives on LaGonave.

Boat Making

One church where Papa Shamma pastors.

Baptism on Dec 31, 2010.

Up close and personal.

Shamma, Rocky, and Bruce

Kevin preaching - Rocky translating

Ladies listening to teaching at the church.

How cute!

Such excitement.

Sunrise - coming back to the mainland.

Tap tap (taxi) ride home.

Jensky - Our 13 Month Old Burn Patient

The date on these pictures is wrong - they were just taken two or three days ago. 

Please continue to pray for Jensky and his family. God is healing him. PTL!

I think he may be smiling!

It seems taking care of him is truly exercise, but isn't he worth it.

That man is papa - he really seems to care for his little boy.

Bruns Bunch Broadcast - January 2011

It is the end of the first month of 2011. My, how time flies....

Our year started off in full swing with a team from Guatemala here to serve. They were a team of 22 (way more than our normal size team). Guatemalans, or at least this group, are full of energy, they love the Lord, and love the people. This was evident in their daily actions. We did find the language barrier a bit challenging at times, but most could speak some English. This team helped paint a church that was damaged in the earthquake a year ago. They painted at the school inTiTanyen (our village). They also helped build temporary shelters with the North Carolina Baptist Men's Group that is staying here on our property. This group was here from Jan 4-11th and loads of fun.

On the 14th of January we welcomed a team from Virginia. This was a team of 9 members. This team helped build an addition on the generator house to shelter the fuel tanks from the weather. This was the part of the generator house that was badly damaged in the earthquake and since it was in need of repair, we took the opportunity to expand this building. This team also helped unload a 40 ft. container packed to the ceiling with supplies for Haiti. This team departed on January 23rd - thanks for the encouragement and words of wisdom.

We were blessed to have two (and sometimes three to five) friends join us here in Haiti from Dec. 30th through Jan. 19th. Kevin had the privilege of going to an island here in Haiti for the New Year's Eve/Day weekend with Bruce. They met the father of a Haitian friend there. This gentlemen is a pastor out on the island and led the church plant of three churches there on La Gonave. We are in prayer as to why the Lord has opened this door for ministry and how He would like us to minister to this group of people. The areas of interest are evangelism, discipleship, schools, and medical.

Bruce's wife, DeeAnn, and their daughter, Emilyann, joined us from the 30th - 19th. DeeAnn brought much needed supplies to Haiti in order to switch home school curriculum for Josiah. DeeAnn is a trained educator and she worked with Josiah and Emilyann in adjusting to the new curriculum as well as clarify some thoughts on how to teach Josiah best. This proved to be a huge blessing and schooling has resumed with Susan at the helm and is going well. DeeAnn must have left Haiti a few pounds lighter - we think Susan talked her ear off while she was here. Thanks Dee for a listening ear.

The two other friends that joined us for a long weekend were Carrie and her daughter Charis. When they came, we weren't sure what mission they might be on for the Lord. They were a huge encouragement to the Bruns' girls while the men went to La Gonave. Carrie, Charis, DeeAnn, Emilyann, and the Bruns' girls had the blessing of ministering in a local orphanage with Cody Whittaker (howcantheyhear.org). Making bracelets with twenty children can be difficult if you don't have enough hands to help. PTL - He provided. We had a blast. Later in the month we were able to go back with some coloring supplies and gifts. 

Kevin continues to minister through Bible Study every Thursday in Arcahaie. The young man we work with, Israel, continues to seek the Lord in looking for work to provide for his basic needs (shelter, food, and clothing). He has asked us to purchase him a moto (motorcycle) so he can be a taxi driver in his village. We told him we would pray for him in this area. A moto in Haiti is about $1000 US dollars. We will watch and see what the Lord will do. Israel was hit by a passing vehicle the other day and although he has no serious injuries, he is still sore - please pray for him.

The children's program that we are a part of every Saturday, continues to meet. It is exciting to hear the children answer questions about the bible. This is an area that is not fluent in the bible and their excitement is refreshing. This is also one of the areas where the Jesus Film was shown when NWF was here in December. Thanks NWF for your willingness to come and be a part of the Lord's work here in Haiti. We are seeing more of an adult interest in the children's program. The adults gather out in back of where the children meet each week and listen. Pray that the message goes out clearly and that lives will be changed for the greater of the Kingdom!

Clinic has been busy this month. One of our diabetic patients had developed an infection in her foot. The Lord finally softened her husband's heart and he allowed her to go to the local hospital. She just had two toes removed this week at a hospital in Port-au-Prince. We praise the Lord that it was not worse and that she heals well. We have also been treating a 13 month old boy, Jensky. He was malnourished when he came to us with his burn. He crawled to and tumbled a pot of hot food/cereal onto himself. Jensky

To Finish off our first month of this new year, we are installing two new 100kw generators.  We moved out our two 40kw's outside and are currently providing everyone's power with those until we get the new ones hooked up.  We are drilling holes for fuel lines, hanging conduit from ceilings, and building forms to poor a new roof.  pray we get this all finished with no hang-ups later on.

Well, that has been our crazy first 2011 month here in Haiti. There is much more, but we have already kept you long enough. God bless and have a great year!

A Look Back & A Look Forward

A small look at our past year and Future outlook.  

January 12, 2010 4:53 p.m.  We experienced an earthquake.  This brought on a transition into working with several ministry organizations that involved us reaching out to the Haitian people where we could not on our own.  This is still continuing and we have had the challenge of becoming landlords so that they can continue to reach out to the people.  

October 22, 2010,  News that a cholera epidemic just broke out in Haiti and was claiming lives.  The UN and the Country Health officials making preparations so the disease does not spread into Port-au-Prince.  We sent a team home early.  Prayed about what we should do. Thought about returning to America until it was over. Come to find out cholera will never leave.  Educated ourselves on cholera.  Watched it spread into Port-au-Prince.  Susan assisted SP with nursing care in cholera clinics.  Susan assisted a mission in Cazale in their cholera clinic.

November  3, 2010,  Prepared for major hurricane heading for Haiti.  made sure our campus was secure in the event that the hurricane came our way.  Prayed. November 4-5 hurricane Tomas begins its move into Haiti, but God turns it enough to miss Haiti.  Small amount of rain and some wind.  Nothing bad.  PTL.

November 28, 2010, Presidential elections.  Certain streets became off limits.  No vehicles allowed to drive in PAP.  Some polling stations shut down due to corruption.  Riots begin to break out across PAP the following day.  Airport closes for a week.  Cannot enter PAP all roads closed.  Roads closed in Arcahaie NW of here.  Pray God's protection for Haiti.

Those are the four major events this year.

Here is what God did this year.  

Due to the earthquake, He allowed us to meet and help other Christian organization to reach out to the people of Haiti where we could not. This also opened the doors to share the Gospel with ones that were ready to hear it.

Allowed us to return to America for a great visit with friends and family.

Open the door for our friend Israel to start a children's program in Arcahaie.  Allowed Susan and I to help with this program and is allowing us to continue to help.

Since May 2010 we had approx. 18 teams come to join us in ministry here in Haiti. We ministered alongside these team, helped organize their projects, assisted with their transition into and out of Haiti, and enjoyed fellowship with them.

In May we began language training again. This took place 2 days a week (most weeks) with our children and Pastor Etienne. This continues and is a priority in our ministry.

Susan went back to Eastern Kentucky in July for gallbladder surgery and all went well - PTL!

Opening doors to a possible medical mission program. Still not sure on the details but doors and windows seem to be opening in the area of medical missions.

Kevin began a Thursday afternoon Bible study in Arcahaie in August. God is allowing this to continue.  He also has led a group here in TiTanyen to accompany Kevin every Thursday.  The car is packed with Kevin and eight Haitians traveling to and from Bible Study.

God has allowed Susan to stretch her medical skills in helping with earthquake victims, burn and wound care patients, and going out to the cholera clinics.

God has gifted her to help with keeping the books here for the mission.

He helps her to home school the children and keep up with the day to day activities at home.

We have watched our children grow in the Lord and seek him out for their help and strength.

Jessi (our then 11 year old) was unsure of her salvation - so she prayed to except Jesus as her Lord and Savior - PTL!

He has enabled Susan to learn some of the language, and continues to help Kevin learn the language.

Allowed us the privilege of spreading the Gospel to the people.

Through relief donations build twenty two homes in TiTanyen.

Almost 20 some wells have been put in around the tent city located near Bon Repo.

Received 3 (we think) containers packed full of supplies for distribution here in Haiti. Unpack, sorted, and distributed supplies as needed for both relief efforts and survival efforts here in Haiti.

What we plan for the Future.

We hope to get into the community of Arcahaie more.  Get to know the people and build relationships with them.

Continue to develop our language skills.

Get a discipleship class started in one of the local church that we preach at in Arcahaie.

Help this pastor (Pastor David) develop programs in his church to better reach out and meet the needs of those in his community.

Continue to help Israel with the children's program.  

Continue to lead Thursday afternoon Bible study.

Reach out to the people through medical missions.

Continue to assist the GO staff with compound operations.

Flourish (survive) during another year in Haiti.

All that was mentioned above was not done alone as an individual or as an individual family. We here at the Global Outreach Haiti compound work together with other missionary families, on a daily basis, to serve the Lord here in Haiti. Thank you team and God bless!